Random Acts of Violence
by FFA331
Summary: "Everyone has a reason, everything has a purpose and everyplace has a meaning. The trick is to pay attention. It's all important." When Chicago is faced with a series of seemingly random events it is up to Intelligence to figure it all out and stop an unspeakable tragedy before its too late. But things are never as they seem, and this time, the team won't walk away unscathed.
1. Let Me Take You Into The Light

**Random Acts of Violence**

* * *

In a city like Chicago, the police are not strangers to the term "random acts of violence." They're among the hardest crimes to solve as they come unprovoked and without motive or reason. The things about these "random acts" is that they hardly ever are. Misdirected sure, but random? Seldom. The terminology is more commonly used to label acts that are just too disconnected to properly explain. Or, at least, too disconnected to make an explanation worth the effort it would take to find it.

They're almost never truly random.

People don't just get bored and decide to shoot up convenience stores. Not without the influences of further factors anyways. People watch movies when they're bored. They surf the internet, lie in their beds and stare at the ceiling, go for runs, party with friends, put in overtime. When people are bored, they play three hours worth of solitaire on their iPhones. They don't initiate hostage situations or mass shootings. Not just because they're bored.

That's why police officers and lawyers search for motives. At least, the good ones anyways. If death and taxes are the only two things in the world that are completely certain, people having reasons is a close third. Even if the reasons are twisted or ill-conceived, they exist. They always do, in some form or another.

So no. "Random acts of violence" don't exist, not truly. They're scarcely more than a concept, a term, a label for when a motive can't be found. But whether it's mental illness, a dark past, a vendetta or a need to be heard, there's always a reason. Even if it's hard, or impossible to decipher.

Everyone has a reason, everything has a purpose and everyplace has a meaning. The trick is to pay attention, to everything, to every detail. It's all important. What did they do and why did they do it? What doesn't seem right? It's the smallest things that make or break a case. They're were you find or lose a motive. The hints are there, if you're looking closely enough.

Just remember to pay attention. It's not random. It's all for a reason.

* * *

 **Chapter One: Let Me Take You Into The Light**

 **(Let the Sparks Fly – Thousand Foot Krutch)**

* * *

Dr. Natalie Manning walked through the ER at Chicago Med, stopping casually outside one of the rooms. The room contained her close friend Will Halstead, his brother Jay and Jay's partner Erin Lindsay. Will was stitching up a small bullet wound in his brother's left arm, as the two siblings bickered back and forth.

"I thought it was against protocol to work on family," the doctor teased as she leaned slightly against the doorway.

Will smiled at the appearance of his fellow doctor. "Are you kidding? The ER's been so quiet today I'm starting to worry. Besides, I'm nearly off shift anyways."

"You've still got an hour left." Will frowned at her remark, causing his brother to chuckle slightly. The doctor Halstead pulled the stitch he was making extra tight, making Jay to wince and stop laughing.

"Well someone's got to stitch him up," The doctor retorted. "Might as well be me. Who else would put up with _him_?" Jay frowned in mock hurt, but said nothing.

"Hey Natalie," Erin interjected, ignoring the two Halsteads. "How's baby..." she paused for a minute, trying to remember the name. "Owen?"

Natalie nodded in confirmation. "He's great. Well, I mean, he keeps me up all night and I swear he's constantly hungry, not to mention he's always crying for some reason or another, but," her face lit up at the thought. "he's my little angel."

"I can tell," Jay muttered sarcastically, earning him a sharp slap from Erin on his good arm. The male detective leaned away from her with a face of mock-hurt, causing his brother to growl.

"Will you stay still for ten seconds?" he grumbled, turning to Natalie with a still bright smile. "Animals these two."

Natalie laughed. "I could finish up for you," she offered in a somewhat condescending tone. "Or I'm sure Maggie would love to help out."

Will shot her a _don't-you-dare_ glance before turning back to his stitch-work. His fellow doctor smiled at his annoyance, before bidding the three farewell with a quick "try not to kill each other."

Jay groaned once the female doctor was out of ear-shot. "I can't believe you haven't asked her out yet."

Erin glared at her partner. "She just gave birth to the son of her dead husband. I think that forgives him waiting a bit."

"Thank-" Will began.

"Although not too long," she interrupted while shooting a knowing glance at the doctor.

Will stared at her in disbelief. "Like you're one to be talking. How long did it take for you two to get together?" The two detectives both opened their mouths to object, but he cut them off with a quick "Besides, like you said, it's complicated with Nat."

Jay threw his head back, staring at the roof in exasperation. "You're impossible."

"There." Will blurted as he cut off the last stitch. "All done. I'll grab you your forms and then you two can be on your way," the doctor quickly explained before rushing off. "I'm very busy today."

"I thought you said you were so _not-busy_ that you were almost concerned!" Jay called out, but his brother was already out of earshot, or at least, he pretended to be. "Look at him ignoring me. I knew he didn't care," he grumbled in a joking manner.

Erin laughed under her breath. "He cares," she corrected. "I mean, look how he took the time to stitch you up personally."

"Nah, he just didn't want Dr. Rhodes to do it. Heaven forbid I spend any time with the guy. I might not come out of it hating him as much as Will does. Then who would he rant about him to?"

"Dr. Rhodes? Those two are still going at it?"

Jay nodded. "Those two are worse than me and Voight." He laughed at the glare Erin shot him. "Seriously, they are. Will can't go a single night without telling me how much of a 'stuck-up-wealthy-know-it-all' the guy is. His words not mine."

Erin sighed. "Well if you and Hank can learn to coexist I am sure Will and Rhodes can figure it out."

"When I said worse than Voight and I, I meant seriously worse."

Erin rolled her eyes. "Speaking of Voight, he'll probably want to know when we'll be back. I'll call him and let him know we'll be back within the hour." She paused. "Unless you wanted me to take you home..."

"I got shot in the arm, not the gut. It's not even my good arm, besides, have you seen how much paperwork I have to do?"

"I warned you what would happen if you didn't stay ahead of that. You know, _yo_ _u're_ the impossible one, not your brother," she sighed. "I'm going to call Hank. Stay put." With that, Erin Lindsay wandered off to find a quiet place to make her call from, leaving her partner waiting. He wasn't kept waiting too long as she returned less than a minute after leaving.

"Jay," she began staring down at her phone. "I'm not getting any signal. That can't be right."

Her partner perked up with confusion. "There's always been signal around here. We're not by anything that would block it. You're sure it's not just your phone?"

She shrugged. "Try yours."

Jay pulled out his own cell, quickly noticing that it too lacked all signal. "What the hell?" he mumbled. "I-"

He was cut off by the sharp, undeniable sounds of three gunshots. Instinctively, both detectives reached for their guns.

"Ten bucks says it's a signal jammer set up by whoever fired off those shots," Jay cursed under his breath, tossing back on his kevlar vest (which he'd discarded while getting his arm stitched up). "Someone needs to get out of its range and call for back-up."

Erin nodded. "It probably is a signal jammer, but first we need to confirm." Jay shot his partner a doubtful glance. "We just need eyes on whatever's happening- or some kind of idea what we're dealing with."

"How's a hospital shooting for an idea?"

"Jay," she chastised. "It's best to be sure."

Jay sighed, grudgingly accepting her proposal. "Fine," was all he needed to say and the two were ready to go. Keeping low, and maintaining as much cover as possible, they headed out into the main entrance to the ER. The room was empty, eerily so and the two detectives immediately knew something was up.

They spotted a few faces, scared people huddled up and hiding in rooms or behind desks. Although, they really looked more startled than scared; confused and curious more so than anything else. Maybe worried, but far from the terrified they would be if they'd actually seen anything. The detectives figured this out almost instantly, causing Erin to motion to them to stay put and keep quiet with basic hand gestures.

The people were just nodding in understanding when someone cried "Oh thank god!" Both detectives turned to the source of the voice. It was emitting from the doorway of a nearby room in the form of a middle aged woman. "Hurry. Come quick."

They both gave the confused people one last gesture to remain hidden and silent before lowering their weapons slightly and hurrying after the woman as she retreated off down a hallway. She lead them to a small room containing a middle aged man, the woman who lead them to the room and a younger woman (most probably in her early twenties or late teens) huddled up around some figure. The youngest woman wore a cast on one arm, presumably the reason the group was at the ER in the first place.

"This nurse," the man began to explain as he back away from the figure. "The gunmen knocked her out when she tried to stop him." The figure was revealed to be Maggie, a nurse Jay knew well enough as she was close to both his brother and (especially) Natalie.

Erin instinctively crouched down to examine the unconscious women who appeared fine except for the blood clinging to her head and face.

"Alright, catch us up," Jay instructed the clearly panicking family as calmly as he could. "What exactly happened?"

"It all happened so quick," the young woman explained in a shaky voice. "It was just us, this nurse and a doctor, Dr. Manning. They were getting ready to discharge me- you know prescribing pills, recommending taking it easy and such- when a man just barged in. He started demanding that they go with him, but the nurse was having none of it. When he tried to take Dr. Manning with force, she tried to stop him and- oh god- he hit her with his gun. Please tell me she's okay."

Erin sent a quick nod of assurance to her partner. "It looks like no more than a concussion, but we should be getting her checked out," she explained. "Jay, someone needs to get word out, We can't have new patients arriving at a hospital with a gunman running around.. Ambulance's need to be redirected.

Jay nodded. "First, tell us what happened next. Did he just leave with Dr. Manning?"

The young woman shook her head. "I screamed when he knocked out the nurse and- and that must've drawn the attention of this nearby doctor because he rushed in to see what was wrong. The man with the gun- He threatened to kill Dr. Manning if they didn't take him where he wanted to go. The male doctor was hesitant, but that's when the gunman fired off his weapon. After that, the doctor just listened."

Jay looked around the room, noticing three small bullet holes in one of the walls. "No one else was hurt though? The shots just went into the wall?"

The young woman nodded. "He just wanted to scare the second doctor into listening to him." She was starting to cry now. "The gunman- he'd completely lost it."

"So it's just one gunman though, with one gun. A handgun? Like mine?" Jay inquired, gesturing to his own firearm.

The man nodded. "But he's dangerously unstable. Even I could tell he wasn't really in his right mind...and he's got two hostages. Maybe even more now."

"The second doctor, what did he look like? Was he this man?" Jay asked, trying to remain calm, as he showed a picture of his brother on his phone.

The man nodded frantically. "Yeah, that's him. The shooter had him and Dr. Manning lead him off, telling us if we didn't stay put he'd come back for us too. My wife went out to find cell service- to call the police- and that's when she came back with you two. I wish I could tell you more, but it just- it all happened so fast."

Erin sighed. "Well I can promise you he won't come back. He just meant to scare you."

"Erin, you need to get them out of here," Jay instructed as matter-of-factly as he could. He was already checking outside to see if the coast was clear. "Get them to Mouse. See if you can get a sketch and ID the guy."

"If you think I'm letting you chase this psycho on your own you're crazy," Erin objected. "What happened to never going anywhere without back-up?"

"You said it yourself- someone has to call out- get ambulance's redirected and get back-up."

"It'll only take five minutes. Then we can go find this guy. Together."

"We may not have five minutes Erin and you know it."

"Well then I should go. With your arm-"

"I'm fine Erin. It's my left arm, and its barely a graze."

"It's more than graze-"

"He's got my brother, Erin!" Jay snapped. "And Natalie." Erin, while still noticeably tense, relaxed slightly. She understood her partner well enough to know he wasn't going to leave without his brother. "I'm not wasting five minutes if I don't have to." He turned back to the family. "Where'd the gunman tell the doctors to take him?"

"I- I don't know," the older woman stammered.

"Think!" Jay barked before calming himself slightly. "What'd he say? You had to have heard him tell the doctors where he wanted them to lead him."

"Uh- He said- a name- Charles, I think. Yeah. That was it. Charles."

"As in Dr. Charles? Or as in a first name?"

"It was definitely Dr. Charles," the young woman chimed in.

"That's got to be the psychiatrist right?" Jay asked Erin hopefully.

She shrugged hopelessly. "It's a big hospital Jay and a common name. Could be any number of people...but I suppose it's as good a place to start as any...if you're mind's made up. His office isn't far from here," she said, quickly giving him directions to the doctor's office.

Jay nodded in appreciation. "Get them out Erin," he instructed before taking his first step out of the room. Erin stopped her partner, however, by grabbing his forearm and making him face her.

"I'll be coming in after you in five minutes. Try not to do anything stupid until then."

He nodded. "You either," was all he said before rushing off.

Erin watched him leave before turning back to the family and a still unconscious Maggie. "You," she gestured to the man. "Help me carry her."

* * *

"He's not here!" The gunman shouted at Will. "I told you to lead me to Dr. Charles! Or do I have to remind you why you're doing this?!" In this rage, the man grabbed Natalie and spun her around, so she was in front of him and they both faced the other doctor. He jammed the gun, hard, against her temple to make his point.

"That's not necessary!" Will blurted instinctually. "This is his office. He's probably just with a patient right now."

"Then take me to him!"

"It's not that simple," Natalie explained, her voice tense with nerves. "Dr. Charles consults all over the hospital. He could be anywhere. I could page him, but with those shots you fired off earlier- the whole of Chicago PD is probably bursting into the hospital as we speak."

He shook his head. "The service is jammed up."

"What?" Will spat. "Are you crazy? Ambulance's need to be redirected. Someone needs to be able to call out."

"I'm sure someone will...once they get out of the range of the jammer field."

Will took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He ran through his options in his head. The police would be here eventually, surely someone would get far enough to make the call. _Think._ He thought to himself. _What would Jay do?_

He froze. Jay. Jay and Erin were in the hospital. They were fresh off the job, armed and ready to go. They'd figure out what had happened right? They'd be here soon. _I just have to stall._

"Natalie's right. If you want to get Dr. Charles here, then you're best bet is to have us page him."

"However," Natalie added as she began to develop what Will's plan was in her head. "You tossed our pagers into a trashcan as we walked. We'd have to go back and get them."

Enraged by the seemingly harmless comment, the man pushed Natalie into Will so hard she nearly knocked him over. "Do you think I'm an idiot!?" he cried as he waved the gun around like he was experiencing his own personal earthquake.

"Of course not," Natalie assured him. "But it's the only way."

"Who do you have out there? Swat? Or a soldier? I know one of your fellow ER doctors served over seas. Is he waiting outside to kill me?"

Will put his hands to show he meant no harm. "There's no one out there. Tell you what, you send Dr. Manning to go get the pagers and I'll stay here as you're hostage. If she doesn't come back, you can kill me."

"Will..." Natalie whispered, concern both on her face and in her voice.

He grabbed her hand reassuringly, but kept his eyes secured on the gunman. "Unless you want to wait around all day to see if Dr. Charles will come back- which he may not- you really don't have any other options here."

The man snarled, thinking on it for a moment. "Fine," he decided. "You have five minutes then your friend's brains are going to become very good friends with the wall."

Natalie nodded in understanding, turning briefly to pull Will into a tight hug. "Don't do anything stupid untilI get back."

"Don't worry about me," he replied before lowering his voice to a barely audible volume. "Find Jay. Get out."

Natalie nodded before taking her leave (with the permission granted through a nod of the gunman's head) to go retrieve the pager. She shot her friend one last concerned glance before hurrying off down the halls.

"You better hope she comes back in time," the man snapped, bitterly.

 _It's not her I'm counting on,_ Will thought to himself as he stared at a nearby clock. Time was already running out.

* * *

"Natalie?" Jay called out, as loud as he dared.

The doctor sighed a deep breath of relief, rushing down the hallway towards the detective. "Jay. Thank god."

"I heard gunshots. The gunman- he's supposed to have you and Will as hostages," he said, clearly confused.

"Yeah. I mean- he does. How did you-" she froze. "You ran into the Emersons. Did you see Maggie? Is she okay?"

Jay nodded. "It looks like it's just a concussion. Erin's taking her to get help."

"There's a jamming field up, Jay. You have to get word out. Patients need-"

"Erin's got it," he interrupted brusquely. "Natalie. Where is Will?"

The doctor snapped to attention as though, in the panic of the moment, she'd completely forgotten about her objective.

"He's still with the gunman. Will convinced him to let me go and retrieve my pager," she explained, waving her pager (which she must've already retrieved), purposefully, in the air. "I got five minutes to return with it. Jay, your brother told me to find you. You have to do something. I don't know who this guy is, but he's willing to kill get a chance to speak to Dr. Charles."

"You don't think he's bluffing?" Jay clarified.

"He looked pretty serious to me when he slammed his pistol into Maggie's head."

"Pistol whipping isn't exactly the same as murder."

"Jay," she urged. "He's serious. I can feel it in my gut." She took a deep breath to collect herself. "He's with Will in Dr. Charles' office. I'm supposed to be back there in under two minutes. I need to go," she blurted, turning to rush off.

"No way in hell am I giving him another civilian hostage," Jay insisted, grabbing her arm to stop her. "I think one's enough. Don't you?" Natalie frowned, clearly eager to return to her friend, despite the threat of the psychotic gunman. "Look. Here's what I need you to do; you need to get a hold of Dr. Charles. See if you can't find out who this man is and what he wants. I also need to you to meet up with Erin. I'll have my earpiece in, so if she can figure out how to get the signal jammer offline she'll be able to talk to me with information. In the meantime, you need to stop her from approaching Dr. Charles' office. From what I've gathered a cop showing up could spook this guy into hysteria."

"Aren't you a cop?"

"I'm also a brother," Jay said with a knowing smirk. "Now go!"

* * *

"Ah ha!" Ruzek cheered triumphantly. "I win again!"

"You cheated bro," Atwater protested as his fellow detective gathered up the two fives that had been placed on the desk. "I saw you take an extra shot when you thought I wasn't looking."

Ruzek frowned. "Who me? Never," he chirped with a grin, fanning his ten dollars as though it where several hundred. "Double or nothing?"

"No way man," Atwater argued further. "Give me back my five. I ain't playing trash basketball with a good-for-nothing cheater."

"You're just jealous of my skills," the detective sang as he victoriously spun around the trash can (now full of crumbled up paper "basketballs").

"You definitely cheated Ruzek," Olinsky chimed in, causing Ruzek (who had forgotten his old partner was there) to nearly jump straight out of his skin. "So give Atwater back his five and get back to your paperwork before I tell Voight what you two have been up to."

Ruzek grumbled to himself as he returned the bill and slumped down in his chair. Just as he was turning back to his paperwork, Dawson and Voight came marching up the stairs.

"I would've gotten him to confess to the whole deal if that lawyer had shown up five minutes later," Dawson muttered.

"He shot a cop, Dawson," Voight reminded the detective. "Doesn't matter if it's just in the arm, we won't even a confession to lock his ass up. Trust me, he won't be seeing the sunlight anytime soon."

"I still hate lawyers."

"Who doesn't?" Ruzek chirped from his desk.

"Any word on Erin and Halstead?" Voight asked casually. "Is he taking the day off?"

"For a scrape like that?" Dawson teased. "He better not be. I just hope that man knows how much paperwork he's making us do because he can't dodge bullets."

"I'll take that as a 'you don't know?'" Voight repeated.

Olinsky shook his head, confirming the sergeant's hypothesis.

"Well let me know when you hear from them," he declared before beginning to head into his office. He stopped short in the doorway, however, when Mouse came bursting in, panic filling his voice.

"Sarge!" He called out. "I just got off the phone with Lindsay. Someone's opened fire at Chicago Med. So far there's only one injury, but the gunman's got two hostages: doctors Halstead and Manning, and not only did Jay go after him alone, but the guy's got some sort of signal jammer up and all communications are out within the hospital... I gotta call and get the ambulances-"

"Mouse!" Dawson blurted. "Slow down. We can't keep up."

"There's a psycho with a gun on the lose at Chicago Med. They think he's after Dr. Charles, but they're not sure. Jay's in there alone, well- I mean- Lindsay's going back in now, but- you have to get over there." By the time the bumbling tech finished, however, the entire team was already racing down the stairs with Voight demanding he text them any important details. Dawson stopped briefly to put a comforting hand on Mouse's shoulder.

"It's going to be okay."

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled to himself as Dawson rushed away to join the rest of his team. "Of course it will be. It's Jay..."

* * *

 _So that's chapter 1 of Random Acts of Violence. I hoped you guys enjoyed it. I know it was kinda slow this chapter, but I made it longer than usual in hopes of compensating. Oh! I watch all 3 Chicago shows (like religiously) so, for this fic, they will all be in it, but it will still be majorly CPD so if that's that only show you watch you should still be fine. This story will also be divided into parts with each part having its own song and each chapter having a different line from said song. There should be about 5, but no guarantees._

 _For any of you who are curious; sorry I dropped off the Earth. It was due to a mixture of life and laziness and lack of motivation (the 3 L's). I'm back now with a new chapter every Sunday. Real quick; before the season 3 premiere I put up half of a two shot. I'm basically done part 2, but I kind of assumed no one would care (since the actual episode aired and all). But if you do want me to finish that up I can post it. Just let me know._

 _Sorry for the long note. As always, hope you enjoyed (let me know if you did- or didn't), and I'll see you all next Sunday with Ch 2!_

 **Next Chapter:**

 **Chapter Two: There's Nowhere to Hide**


	2. There's Nowhere To Hide

**Chapter Two: There's Nowhere to Hide**

 **(Let The Sparks Fly – Thousand Foot Krutch)**

* * *

"Hey Mouse!" Roman called out as he and his partner raced up the stairs. "Platt just gave us the rundown. We were told to come check if you needed any help."

The tech looked up from his computer for only the briefest of moments before turning his head back to his screen. "I've got Main informed of the situation- they're handling the redirection of ambulances...And now, I'm trying to see if there's a way to remotely disable this jammer."

"You can do that?" Burgess wondered.

"Well sure-" Mouse muttered. "If this baby was your regular, portable signal jammer, but this- this is a whole other deal." The two patrolmen frowned, urging him to continue. The tech looked up at them (in an innocently patronizing manner). "Signal's out all over the hospital. It's almost like he's got a field of interference surrounding the hospital. You can't buy this kind of puppy at your regular hardware store."

"So what? Are we looking at some technological prodigy here?" Roman asked.

"Ish. See, there's a couple possibilities. I mean- Jay and I encountered something like this overseas. Some tech-wiz was souping up your basic signal jammers and selling them to anyone willing to buy them. Apparently it's a pretty popular thing; selling souped up jammers. Actually-"

"So you're saying it wouldn't take much to do?" Roman interrupted.

Mouse shrugged. "Well, I could rig one up in under ten minutes, but someone like you certainly wouldn't be able to do it." He paused before adding, "No offence."

"None taken," Roman grumbled bitterly.

Burgess rolled her eyes. "So our perpetrator is either a tech-genius (like you) or knows someone who is," she summarized, causing Mouse to sigh.

"The knowing of which, doesn't really help us," he grumbled under his breath.

Roman perked up. "Wait. If this guy is using the same thing you encountered previously..."

"I didn't say that," Mouse corrected after the cop trailed off. "I said he _could_ be using a _similar_ _technique_."

"To achieve the same end result though. Right?"

Mouse frowned, clearly confused, but Burgess stepped in as she caught onto her partner's idea. "Overseas, did you figure out a way to disable the jammers remotely?"

Mouse hesitated. "No, but..." he said, turning back to his computer and resuming his furious typing. "After we caught this guy- in exchange for some leniency- he helped explain the more intimate works of his design- not so much how to build it, but he showed me how to analyze the interference and it's patterns to find its 'epicentre' as he called it."

"So you can track the jammer's location?" Burgess asked, hopefully.

"And that would give us our gunman's location," her partner added.

Mouse nodded with newfound determination. "Only if it's a similar type of jammer, but yeah, hopefully."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Burgess added.

The tech looked up at the cops (for a moment) with a warm grin. "You just did."

* * *

"Your friend's got less than thirty seconds to return. She better hurry up," the gunman snarled at Will, growing more frantic with each passing second. "She left!" he snapped. "Didn't she? What'd you tell her? To save herself?"

"No- I-" Will stammered. "She- She probably just forgot which garbage can you threw our pagers in. J-Just give her a moment longer. She'll be here."

"She better be."

"She will," he said with a bold certainty on the outside that he did not feel all on the inside. In actuality, with each passing moment he became more and more unsure of his chances of survival. What if Natalie couldn't find Jay? What if he'd gone outside the signal jammer's reach in order to call for back-up? What if- What if this was really it?

Will could handle tough situations. He wasn't about to start crying his eyes out or begin begging for his life, but he sure as hell wasn't as good in these types of situations as his brother. Jay was trained to stand up to armed criminals. He was trained to deal with hostage situations and take down criminals. Will, on the other hand, he was trained to get bullets out of people. He was trained to fix up the injured after the criminals were taken care of. Sure it was stressful, but in a completely different way.

So he stood there, trying to mask the nervous shakes that ran through his body and trying to keep himself together... and, on the outside, he was doing pretty good. It was the inside that was the problem.

"She's getting the damn cops isn't she?" the gunman screamed, pushing the barrel of his gun into Will's forehead. "You're trying to screw me over!"

"No. I'm not," Will blurted. "Look, I just want to get out of this alive. Okay? I'm not a cop. I'm not trying to screw you over. Please. Please trust me on that. I just want to walk out of this in once piece."

The gunman seemed to ease up slightly. "Then where is she?"

"I don't know," he admitted as he released a breath of air he was unaware he'd been holding. He inhaled deeply then exhaled deeply, trying to think of how to calm the man down.

"What- What's your name?" The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them.

The man frowned. "That's not important."

"Of course. Of course," Will muttered nervously, before regaining enough of his courage to continue. "I'm Will."

The man's frown deepened, turning more into a snarl than a frown.

"I'm sorry. I just-"

"David," The man said suddenly as he lowered his weapon.

Will nodded, a faint smile of hope appearing on his face. "It's nice to-"

"It's not nice!" He screamed, suddenly. "None of this is nice! I'm not here to make friends!" He threw the gun back into Will's face. "Where is the other doctor! It's been well over five minutes!"

Panic raced through every bone in the doctor's body. "David," he tried. "David please just-"

"Will?" Came a voice from outside the room. "Will, is that you in there?"

Will let out a small sigh of relief as he recognized the voice as that of his brother. "Who the hell is that?" David whisper-shouted.

"It's my brother. He was supposed to pick me up after shift," Will whispered back. He motioned to the closed door. "He can't see us, just- just- he doesn't know we're here. He can walk away right?" Will stammered with (mostly) fake concern, following his brother's lead and hoping that the use reverse psychology wouldn't blow up in their faces.

David smirked, falling for the bait. "No, you know what? I think he's going to be my replacement for your little, scaredy-cat girlfriend. Maybe you'll behave when it's your brother's life on the line. Call him in or I'll put two bullets in your gut and unload the rest into that door. At least one bullet's bound to hit your brother," he instructed quietly.

The gunman moved behind Will pushing his handgun into the doctor's back. Taking a deep breath, Will called out, "Yeah Jay. Come in."

Jay swung open the door as casually as possible. "I thought I heard you in here. What're you doing in here?" He asked so calmly Will almost wondered if his brother actually knew he had a gun to his back.

"This is David," Will began, trying (and failing) to come across as collected as the detective before him. "He needs to see Dr. Charles for- for a consultation."

Jay laughed slightly. "Oh- Well, I just ran into him with one of his patients, walking around the halls; he said it helped her clear her mind. Anyways, he sent me to grab some of his notes."

"Take me to him!" David screamed in such a sudden burst of rage that Will nearly jumped straight out of his skin. He pointed his gun straight at Jay, and even though Will knew his brother was trained for these types of situations, his stomach began to turn, violently.

"Woah, easy now," Jay tried, lifting up both his hands. "I was going to. There's no need for a gun okay? How about you just put in down?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?!" He continued.

"Of course not. Look-"

"Jay," Will interrupted pleadingly. By this point the doctor was well aware of the extent of the gunman's complete and utter lack of anger management skills and he'd rather not have his brother on the receiving end of one of his freak-outs if he could avoid it. "Just take us to Dr. Charles okay?"

Jay looked at his brother, silently asking him if he really thought that was the best course of action. Will nodded as small as he could all while still being noticeable. With a deep, somewhat anxious sigh, Jay lowered his hands and backed out of the room. Once out he moved to a position that prompted David to pass ahead of him.

David, however, was less than pleased, instead pushing Jay forward. The detective fell to the ground (trying to make it look as unintentional as possible), Will quickly knelt down to help him back up. Jay took his hand for a moment before whispering in a deadly quiet voice (that even David could not hear from his position just a couple feet away).

"My gun's tucked into the back of my pants. It's covered by my shirt, but if he sees it we're both dead before we hit the ground."

Will nodded. "I'm walk behind you."

Jay smiled in appreciation as his brother pulled him to his feet. "Just keep following my lead," he whispered before beginning to lead David and Will down the hall to where he had allegedly seen Dr. Charles. As he promised, Will followed only a step or two behind him. While the detective's shirt concealed his weapon nicely, the doctor wasn't willing to take the chance that David would see it and blow both their heads off before Jay could react.

David fell into step behind them with determined stomps, pointing his handgun, purposefully, at the backs of both the Halstead brothers.

* * *

Erin made her way, cautiously, through the halls of Chicago Med, carefully checking the halls around each and every corner as she made her way towards the office of Dr. Charles. She stopped at the upcoming corner and was about to poke her head out when a figure raced up to her, stopping and screaming upon spotting the detective.

"Natalie!" Erin cried in exasperation. "What the hell are you doing?" she continued in a whisper-shout.

"Lindsay, thank god," the doctor whispered. "You have to stop."

"Stop? Stop what?"

"Lindsay, I ran into Jay. He's-"

"Going to get his brother. I know."

"Yes, but Lindsay, he specifically told me to stop you."

Erin frowned. "Why?"

"He said a cop going in would scare the gunman."

Erin bit her lip, trying to tame the anger building within her. "He knows that he's a cop too, right?"

"He has a plan. He didn't elaborate, but he specifically said that I should not let you follow him."

"Yeah, well, screw that," Erin scoffed.

Natalie sighed, tiredly. "Lindsay," she pleaded.

"I'm not going to rush in guns blazing, Natalie. I'm not stupid. I just need to get eyes on him- on them. With communications being jammed I have literally no idea what the situation is. If they need help, they have none. I'm just going in as backup. That's all. I promise." Erin smiled warmly. "Now, I called Mouse so Voight and the team should be arriving now. You need to go meet up with them (I'm sure they're setting up some kind of perimeter pretty quick now) and fill them in on any further details."

Natalie looked about with uncertainty before releasing a small sigh and nodding. "Will and the gunman- they were in Dr. Charles' office when I left." She paused. "Erin, what time is it?"

The detective checked her phone. "Uh- 2:37. Why?"

Natalie cursed, lightly, under her breath. "It's been more than five minutes. Will made a deal. I got to leave, without supervision, as long as I returned in five minutes with my pager. He'd thrown it out and with the signal being jammed it was the only way to get a hold of Dr. Charles. He said he'd kill Will if I didn't hurry back."

"Well then it's a good thing Jay went to go get him," Erin said comfortingly as she put on hand on Natalie's arm to assure her.

"Yeah," The doctor replied with a nod. "Erin, be careful."

"Always am," she chirped before continuing her trek to find her partner, his brother and the man that had, somehow, decided it was a good idea to shoot up a hospital in Chicago.

* * *

By the time Dr. Natalie Manning had reached the edges of the signal jammer's reach the Intelligence Unit had not only set up a perimeter, they were geared up and ready to storm the hospital. Without hesitation, the doctor rushed over to the group and explained the situation (from her leaving Will to her run ins with both Jay and Erin) as thoroughly and abruptly as she could.

Hank Voight nodded solemnly before speaking. "I agree with Halstead. From what you've just told me our subject is highly unstable. If we all go bursting in there with our assault rifles raised, I can guarantee we'll spook him into doing something we'll all regret." The rest of the team looked at him in complaint, upset at the prospect of inaction. "That being said," Voight resumed, assuring him team's silence. "We're not about to sit around and do nothing. Ruzek, call Mouse, see if he has anything. Olinsky, on the chance that they're still in Dr. Charles' office, I want you finding a rooftop with a good eye-line. Grab your rifle, take Dawson and go set up. Atwater, set up in the security office. Get us some eyes in there. Ruzek will join you once he's off the phone with Mouse. Natalie, you're with me. We're going to run through Dr. Charles' recent patients, see if we can't find this SOB's identity in the records."

The group nodded and all dispersed to go complete their assigned objectives. Ruzek wandered off a few steps (away from the sounds of the busy police and SWAT officers) and dialled Mouse.

"Hey Mouse you got-"

"Y-Ye-Yeah," The tech interrupted impatiently, stumbling over himself in his rush to get out all the words. "I've got something. Just- Just one- give me one- Got it!"

Ruzek raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Got what?"

"The gunman's location. I've got him pinged- sent it to your phone just now."

The detective pulled his phone away from his ear, looking at the file sent to his screen. "Mouse," he replies unsurely. "Are you sure you sent me the right location?"

"What?" Mouse blurted. "Yeah. Of course I'm sure. I traced the signal jammer. Why're you asking?"

"Your information says he's in a lab for experimental vaccines. It's on the complete opposite side of the hospital from Dr. Charles' office. Unless our gunman decided not to wait for Dr. Manning to return (even though she was his best chance of locating his target) and, instead sprinted randomly to the complete other side of the hospital (which I highly doubt he pulled off _with a hostage_ ) there's no way he got there in the time."

Mouse stammered incoherently in confusion. "Maybe the signal jammer isn't with the gunman?" Ruzek suggested.

"Why?" was the tech's response. "Why would he put the jammer on the opposite side of the hospital from his target's most likely location?"

Ruzek frowned. "Well, maybe he knew you'd be tracking the signal..." The detective laughed at his own suggestion. "No, this guy's way to unstable to be thinking ahead like that..."

Mouse sighed, "I don't know- I just- I mean- he had to buy the tech from someone, maybe the seller recommended our gunman keep away from the tech? No, that wouldn't make sense. The technique I used is pretty far from textbook. He couldn't know I would use it. There's no way."

"You must've gone wrong somewhere," Ruzek admitted, with a sigh.

Mouse returned the sigh. "Yeah, but..." he trailed off. "It doesn't make sense," he continued under his breath.

"Ruzek!" Voight snapped. "Does Mouse have anything?" The detective shook his head. "Then get your ass in the security office with Atwater!"

"Look Mouse, I gotta go," Ruzek said before hanging up and rushing off to join Atwater before the sergeant got even more pissed.

* * *

Erin was making her way, steadily through the halls of Chicago Med, hallway by hallway, corner by corner when she finally reached Dr. Charles office. After a quick sweep of the room, she realized that the gunman and Will (and likely her partner at this point) had moved on. She took the fact that there was no blood or bodies as a sign that whatever Jay had chosen to do, had worked and the thought filled her with the smallest bit of hope.

The downside, however, was that she had next to no idea where they were now. With a grudging sigh, the female detective began making her way towards the far side of the hall. She still moved cautiously- steady, purposeful steps with her gun ready and aimed- but her pace had quickened noticeably as the newly gained lack of direction increased her sense of urgency.

It hadn't even been a full minute since she'd left the office that she heard the far-off sound of a gun shot. Caution went out the window as she took up a frantic sprint towards the sound. A few moments, and a corner or two, later, she heard the sound of smashing glass and a loud thud, following by footsteps of someone moving very rapidly.

She turned into a new hallway, to finally feast her eyes on the destruction that had caused the ruckus. She paused in horror for a moment, seeing a still, bloodstained body propped up against the wall. She was close enough, however, to see Will Halstead stumble up a nearby staircase. He was leaning heavily on the wall and railing and blood covered the one side of his face. He stumbled, slowly past the still figure and entered a nearby room. The movement snapped Erin out of her daze and she rushed over to see where the doctor had gone.

She passed the body, only slowly enough to register that it was not her partner (almost certainly the gunman) and that he had a bullet hole pierced right in the middle of his forehead.

It was then that she turned to where Will had gone. The room he had turned into had large glass doors, one of which was shattered and had small shards of itself lying all over the place. The doctor was crouched over a figure that lay amongst the majority of the glass shards. It didn't take Erin more than a moment to recognize the figure as her partner.

"Oh thank god," Will breathed in relief, two fingers pressed against the pulse point of his brother's neck.

Erin immediately crouched down on the opposite side of Jay's unconscious form. She quickly took note of his injuries and while their was some blood on the floor, none of his scrapes and lacerations were, by any means, life-threatening.

"Will," the detective asked in a noticeably concerned tone. "What the hell happened here?"

The doctor shook his bloodied head. "I-" he tried. "I don't know."

* * *

 _Wow. That took a while. Sorry for the late release, but I hope (as always) that you enjoyed. Let me know what you liked most and what I can do better on that I can amp up the rest of the story for you guys._

 _This week is gonna be crazy for me, so I won't be able to get both chapter 3 and the conclusion of AWKID. I'll probably put up just CH3 of this one, but I'll try to get out the other piece (since some of you seemed to want it) when everything calms down._

 _I'm sorry for the cliff hanger. I hope the chapter wasn't too bad. As always, I'll see you all next Sunday with the next chapter._

 **Next Chapter:**

 **Chapter Three: Nothing But Darkness Left Here**


	3. Nothing, But Darkness Left Here

**Chapter Three: Nothing, But Darkness Left Here**

 **(Let The Sparks Fly – Thousand Foot Krutch)**

* * *

Will Halstead sighed heavily as he sat on one of the beds in the Emergency Room. Dr. Natalie Manning was seeing to his head wound as Detective Dawson and Sergeant Voight questioned him. The injured doctor, however, was unable to add much understanding to the confusion.

"Look, I told you already," he began with a disappointed shrug of defeat. "The shooter- David- he grew impatient. Maybe he realized Jay was leading him in circles, maybe he just wanted to find Dr. Charles more quickly than we'd hoped. Either way, he just got so angry. He pushed me down the stairs to try and- I don't know- encourage Jay to bring him to Dr. Charles faster. It was so sudden. I hit my head pretty hard and... everything after that- it's just so fuzzy."

"And you remember nothing?"

"Gunshots- I think. A smash. Sounds of a struggle. Then I climbed my way up the stairs. Lindsay can tell you the rest."

"Wait." Dawson frowned. "Gunshot _s_? As in more than one?"

Will paused for a moment, looking about as he tried to remember. "I-" he squeezed his eyes shut, desperate to recall with any degree of certainty. "I- I- maybe. I mean- I think so."

"Well there was only one bullet found and it was in David's head," Voight pointed out.

"But I- I think I heard a second shot...and I could've sworn I heard a struggle...and Jay got thrown through a glass door," Will reminded. "He didn't just kill the gunman and then trip and fall."

"He has a point," Dawson whispered to his boss, causing the sergeant nodded solemnly. "Maybe Jay shot the gunman after getting pushed through the glass? From the ground or in mid-fall somehow?"

Voight thought. "Hell of a lucky shot, but his body within sight of the door Halstead fell through."

Will cursed under his breath. "I just- I didn't see it- and even if I did-"

Natalie cut him off. "Maybe you should take a break. You have a pretty nasty concussion and you need some rest."

"Natal-" Will tried before he was cut off by Dawson.

"Listen to your doctor- doctor."

Will rolled his eyes with a huff as Voight wandered off and Dawson followed. "How's Jay?" he asked before Dawson was fully out of the room. The detective turned around from the doorway.

"Dr. Rhodes is still picking glass of his neck and back. Apparently there was a pretty nasty gash that was awfully close to his carotid, but your brother's lucky enough that it's nothing serious." He paused, smiling brightly at Will. "Jay's going to be fine. We'll be able to question him as soon as Rhodes is done with him."

"Let me know when he is?"

"Of course," was all the detective said before finally leaving the room.

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Roman begun, he and his partner hunched over Mouse's shoulder as the tech tried to explain what had occurred. "Your technique didn't work and, instead, showed you that the jammer was on the complete opposite side of the hospital?"

"Well yes, but it makes no sense. There's no reason for this kind of data. Even if I screwed up or the technique simply wasn't applicable, I should've gotten no location, not a wrong one."

"So...maybe this David guy was cautious enough that he really did just leave the jammer on the other side of the hospital?" Roman suggested. "I mean- they didn't find any such tech on the guy's body so it couldn't have been with him as we suspected."

"See- that's what I thought, but after getting off the phone with Ruzek I started over- tried again. I thought maybe I just made a misstep somewhere, but that's what it gets weird. The second time, right around the time that Will got pushed down the stairs and Jay fell through a glass door- the signal was right where it should be. It was right where our gunman died. The signal came back online right around the same time."

"What?"

"The jammer went out at the scene of the altercation. At the same time too."

"Maybe you found their location because you had some idea of where they were," Burgess suggested, although her tone clearly expressed that even she doubted her claim. "Like some sort of confirmation bias?"

Mouse gave her a doubtful glare. "I didn't even know their exact location," he argued. "And that doesn't answer the question of where the jammer is now and why the signal came back online when it did."

The three sighed, staring at the computer in complete and utter confusion. "There's no way it's a software glitch- either a mistake by you or the program?" Roman tried. "Something you fixed the second time you tried?"

"I can't think of any reason why it would've failed the first time and succeeded the second. Hypothetically, It might be possible, but..."

"It still doesn't explain where the device is now and why it cut out when it did," Burgess finished.

Roman groaned. "Great, so we get to explain to Voight that not only did Mouse get the correct location the second time after making no noticeable changes, but the jammer cut out for no reason and then vanished into thin air? I, for one, can't wait," he finished sarcastically.

Mouse gave the two patrol officers a sad smile, as Burgess put a warm hand on her partner's shoulder. "Let's start by going to the scene- see if we can't find the device ourselves. Maybe it ended up down the stairs or in a garbage can somehow." She frowned at the doubtful looks Roman and Mouse shot at her. "I know it's a Hail-Mary, but I'll feel better if I look around for myself."

Roman sighed in defeat. "Good luck on your end," he wished the tech, before following his partner down the stairs.

Mouse made his own sigh as he turned back to his computer. "Alright," he muttered to himself. "Now what did I do wrong?"

* * *

Lindsay drummed her knee up and down as she waited outside her partner's room. Her head was tilted back slightly so that it rested against the wall. Olinsky, who was sitting next to her, had his hands clenched into a fist and was leaning forward slightly so that his head rested up against them. They both knew that Jay was going to be fine, but that hardly made the wait any easier. Lindsay, especially, was a little more than slightly peeved that Dr. Rhodes had insisted they wait outside while he treat her partner. Sure it was protocol, but the female detective was never really one for 'the book,' a trait that she likely picked up from her surrogate father.

"Alright, detectives," announced Nurse April Sexton as she emerged from the room. "You can go in now. Rhodes is just finishing up." The two nodded appreciatively as they rose to their feet and the nurse headed off to assist another patient.

"How many times do you need to get stitched up in one day?" Erin asked, mockingly as she and Olinsky entered the room.

Her partner, who was sitting up, shirtless, on the edge of the hospital bed gave her a small smile that, sarcastically replied _haha, very funny._

Dr Rhodes, finished up the last stitch he was applying to the detective's arm. "Well, I'll leave you to your questioning. Sorry it took so long, I had to re-stitch up his bullet wound from earlier; a shard of glass severed most of your brother's stitches." The doctor frowned. "He does know he's not really supposed to treat family right?"

Jay frowned. "It's just a graze."

Rhodes frowned doubtingly, causing Erin to gesture a hand to the doctor that said _See? I told you so?_ To her partner. "Okay," the doctor hummed before heading. "I'll get your release forms ready. Let's see if we can actually get you out of here."

Jay laughed without any humour. "Oh wait-" he blurt. "Any chance you could get me some more of those pain killers? My neck still hurts like hell."

"That's odd. The dose I gave you should've done the trick for a cut of that size. I guess everyone's slightly different."

"Oh he's fine," Erin teased, causing Jay's brows to furrow in mock anger. "It's just a cut."

Rhodes shrugged. "I'll get you a little more. Not too much though."

"Of course not," Jay replied as the doctor headed off.

"You alright there Halstead?" Olinsky asked once Dr. Rhodes had left. The older detective had made his way to the far corner of the room (from the door) and now had a clear view of his fellow cop's back. Cuts and scrapes covered the flesh, varying in size, from not even breaking the skin to some that had stitched up. The worst was the one that nearly hit his carotid, which Rhodes had expertly stitched up and bandaged. A few others had been stitched, but most were either left alone or treated with simple butterfly bandages. All in all, it was an unnerving sight, but (as the detectives had been assured) not nearly life-threatening.

"Aside from my neck?" He asked with a small smile. "It mostly just stings. I do not recommend it."

Olinsky nodded. "I know the feeling- been through a few windows myself."

Jay put a hand, carefully, on his bandaged neck. "Is my neck supposed to hurt this much?"

Olinsky just smiled, while Lindsay tensed, slightly, with worry. "Careful," she snapped. "That one's close to your carotid, which if you do mess with- will hurt a lot more."

Jay laughed, pulling his hand away. "I'm fine," he summarized to both Olinsky and his partner.

"So then you're good for questions?"

Jay sighed. "I doubt I'll be of much help. Not only is my memory a bit off, but a lot of what Rhodes told while stitching me up- it doesn't really go with what little I do remember."

"Well you won't be the first one to give us conflicting information," Olinsky confessed, leading the injured detective to frown in confusion. Olinsky waved him off. "Let's start with what you remember."

"I was leading the gunman down the halls- in circles- waiting for an opening to go for his gun, but somewhere in his almost bipolar freakouts he had enough sense to stay out of my reach. He must've gotten sick of walking around because he just snapped."

" _Where the hell is Dr. Charles?"_

" _I don't know! He was around here last I saw him, I swear! We'll find him sooner or later, just calm down."_

" _Calm down?! How's this for calm?!"_

"He pushed Will down the stairs before I could stop him. I wanted to go check on him, but this shooter- David- he finally gave me his opening. I pulled out my weapon and fired. I thought I got off a clean hit, but..." Jay trailed off.

"It's okay," Erin assured him. "What happened next? How'd you end up through the glass door and on the ground?"

"Well, as I said, I thought I'd gotten off a clean hit. I turned my back on the guy- I know it was stupid- but I wanted to check on Will. He hadn't exactly fallen gracefully down the stairs. Anyways, I got grabbed from behind." He put his hand back on his neck, in a vain attempt to soothe the wound. "I turned around to fight the guy and we struggled."

The detective squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to remember more. "I remember getting pushed through the door and firing off another shot as I fell, but that's pretty much it."

"You fired off two shots?"

Jay nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"We only found one bullet and it's in our gunman's head."

Jay frowned. "Did you check my mag? I put in a full one just before we came over here. Check how many bullets are missing. Maybe you just couldn't find where the second one ended up."

"I'll go check," Olinsky offered as he departed.

"I should go back to where it all happened. It might help jog my memories if I could walk back through it."

Erin nodded. "As soon as Voight and Dawson are done with your brother we'll take you both back." She paused for a moment. "Jay, something's off. A lot of somethings to be honest."

Jay laughed slightly. "So, do I get a shirt before we go? The back of the one I was wearing looks like it got chewed up by some sort of rabid animal."

"I don't know," Erin said with a smirk as she slowly approached her partner. "I kind of like you like this."

"Oh yeah?" he replied in a quiet, but sly tone, as the two leaned in closer. She merely hummed in response before pressing her lips, delicately, against his; an action he instantly reciprocated.

The gruff sound of someone clearing their throat broke the couple apart. They both, immediately, turned to see Dawson standing in the doorway, with an extra shirt in his hand and a wide grin on his face.

"Good thing I came grab to you two and not Voight huh?" He joked, tossing Jay the shirt. "He'd kick your ass, Halstead."

Jay rolled his eyes as he threw the new shirt over his shoulder (with only mild discomfort). "What d' you want Antonio?"

Dawson laughed at the obvious discontent displayed by the two detectives. "Voight's taking Dr. Halstead back to where Erin found you guys, thought it'd be best if you could both walk through it again, maybe jog some memories. I heard you banged your head pretty good as well."

"Well," Erin began. "As soon as Rhodes gets back with Jay's release forms and his extra pain meds we can head on over."

"Extra pain meds?" Dawson parroted, requested more information.

"It's just my neck."

"Door got you pretty good?" The detective teased before adding, with a smug grin, "You have your brother to thank for the shirt by the way. Apparently, he has an extra in his locker. Aren't you lucky he's so prepared?"

"Did Atwater and Ruzek get anything off the security cameras?" Erin asked (in hopes that a more serious topic would wipe the smug grin off Antonio's face).

"No, oddly enough." the detective confessed. "The whole altercation went down in the one hallway in the hospital with a security camera in need of replacement."

"Hell of a coincidence," Erin remarked with a heavy dose of doubt.

Dawson shrugged. "I swear the more we learn about this case the less we know."

"Alright," Rhodes announced as he re-entered the room. "Here's your forms and here are your extra pain meds. Take them sparingly."

Jay nodded. "Thanks."

"How bad is your neck?" The doctor added. "Do you want me to take another look because-"

"It's not _that_ bad," Jay assured him. "More irritating than anything."

"Well, it is a fair sized gash. Now, you are, technically, cleared to return to field work, but take it easy. Don't go running any marathons for a few days."

Jay nodded. "Will do. Thanks doc."

"Well, Voight's waiting. Shall we?" Dawson asked, motioning to the door as Dr. Rhodes left through it.

"Let's."

* * *

The scene was set up in the following way: The staircase Will was pushed down was on the left and, on the same side, maybe five metres further down was the glass door that Jay had been pushed through. The body of David, the gunman, was lying on the right side neither directly across from the staircase or the doorway, but across from the wall between the two. The bullet, unfortunately, had ricocheted around within the man's skull to such a severe extent that even the entry hole had been damaged and, therefore, no angle of trajectory could be determined.

Will positioned himself at the top of the stairs and Jay stood only a metre or two past him (almost, but not quite halfway between the stairs and the room he had been pushed into). Dawson, who was now playing the role of David, stood behind Will by about the same distance that was between the Halstead brothers.

"This is where I get angry right?" Dawson asked.

Jay nodded, pointing to a position just a foot or two away from his brother (on the side of him opposite the staircase). "You move to there," he explained. "And push Will down the stairs." At this point, Will walked down the stairs to the point that he had fallen to and stood.

"Now I instinctively went to the staircase, but after a couple steps I stop myself and pull out my gun," Jay went on, acting out the instructions as he went. "You try to rush me." Dawson approached Jay, until the detective stopped him. "And Bang."

Dawson turned and looked at the body behind him. "If he'd stumbled back from the momentum, he could've easily ended up where the body is."

"But I didn't hit him then," Jay reminded him. "I couldn't have."

"Wait-" Erin interrupted. "He rushed you? Why didn't he just shoot you?"

"You didn't see this guy," Will offered from his spot down the stairs. "He had completely lost his marbles. He'd snap at a moment's notice and, when he did, all logic went out the window."

Erin nodded. "Okay. Sorry. Continue."

"Alright," Jay resumed. "I thought I hit him. Why would I think that if I didn't actually?"

"There's no bullet wounds anywhere else in his body. If you didn't hit him in the head, then you didn't hit him at all," Dawson pointed out.

"I couldn't have hit him in the head," Jay reminded them all. "If I did, who grabbed me?"

"Your brother just got thrown, hard, down a flight of very solid stairs," Erin offered. "You were concerned, maybe too much too think clearly." Everyone nodded, accepting that as the most likely answer, despite how unprofessional and careless it might mean Jay would've had to have been.

"I guess," the detective in question muttered in confusion. "Next," he resumed. "I turned around. He grabbed me." He rubbed his hand, briefly, on the back of his neck, near the wound. "At the neck. It's foggy, but I think maybe he tried strangle me." Dawson approached Jay, hovering his hands around his neck, careful not to touch.

"I spin around." Jay paused, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he tries to remember. "We stumble over here-ish...and then..." He looks around. He (with Dawson in front of him) is now standing with his back to the shattered glass door. "I fall and I shoot."

The group investigated the positioning. "If you'd shot him while falling he still could've ended up in the same spot," Voight concluded. "It's a hard shot, but you definitely could've made it."

Jay rubbed his hands over his face, in frustration, as Olinsky approached them from down the hall. "I checked your mag. You fired off two shots."

"But there's only one bullet hole anywhere nearby," Roman pointed out, as he and his partner (who was, at the moment, on the phone) approached with Olinsky. "And Burgess and I checked up and down this hallway with CSU. There is no second bullet. Plus, there's still no sign of the jammer."

"What the hell?" Jay groaned in frustration.

"Guys," Burgess announced as she hung up. "It gets weirder. I was just on the phone with Ruzek. He and Atwater got some photos of this David-guy from the security cameras in Dr. Charles. They were able to ID him as David Mulroney. Guy's a complete loner. No friends. No family. He had a daughter, Kate, but she died in a car accident when she was ten years old."

"Did Dr. Charles consult for some reason?" Erin wondered. "And now David blames him for her death?"

Burgess shook her head. "Kate Mulroney died six years ago. In Detroit. They lived there. David still does. He doesn't even live in Chicago. Ruzek showed his photo to all the doctors he could find here, including Dr. Charles. None of them have ever seen him before. They also got Mouse to do a thorough background check and as far as he can tell this guy has never left Detroit and has never had any contact with any of the doctor's at Chicago Med, including Dr. Charles."

"What?" blurted several of the people in the hall.

"The guy doesn't even have a drivers license," she continued. "And Mouse can't find any sign that this guy bought any sort of ticket; plane, train, bus, you name it."

"Let me get this straight," Voight said with a tense tone. "David Mulroney, with no real means of transportation, somehow travelled about 300miles to shoot up a hospital, which he has no connection to and demand to see a doctor that he also had no connection to...and he's willing to push someone down a flight of stairs and someone else through a glass door to do this- an act he, conveniently performed in the one hallway in the hospital without a functioning security camera?"

"Plus there's still the mystery with the jammer and Jay's disappearing bullet," Dawson added.

"Well," Erin said with a small sigh. "Never let it be said that our job's not interesting."

* * *

 _What? What is happening? Have I lost my mind because it's 2am and I wrote the worlds most confusing chapter ever? No, I kid. I actually have this story just about completely planned out. I did say to pay close attention. :) Anyways, I know this chapter wasn't super exciting and probably just confused you guys, but I had to lay out some foundation for the upcoming excitement. I hope it was still enjoyable (feel free to let me know if it wasn't, though- or if it was- especially if it was). Oh! And be sure to share what you all think is going on. I'm dying to hear if any of you guys have theories. Remember: "_ Everyone has a reason, everything has a purpose and everyplace has a meaning. The trick is to pay attention. It's all important."

 _And, on that note, I will see you next Sunday with a new chapter. Until then!_

 **Next Chapter:**

 **Chapter Four: Heaven's Not Far Away**


	4. Heaven's Not Far Away

_For those curious this show is set at the time of 3×18 (Kasual with a K). Roman & Burgess aren't a thing yet (I'm writing them 100% platonically) and everything else is exactly as it was as of that episode (because that is when I began publishing the story). Therefore, Voight is okay with Lindstead, but still frowns on PDA. Hope that cleared up any confusion._

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Heaven's Not Far Away**

 **(Let The Sparks Fly – Thousand Foot Krutch)**

* * *

"Yeah, yeah," Mouse muttered through the phone as he stared, uselessly, at his computer. "Look Jay, I don't know what else to tell you. The camera wasn't hacked. It was physically broken. It was all perfectly legitimate. The camera was old, bound to break sooner or later. I've triple checked it, it just died of age."

"So our gunman didn't break the camera in advance?"

"Even if there was any foul play, he couldn't have. The day the camera was broken Mr. David Mulroney used his credit card in Detroit to buy gas."

Jay sighed through the phone. "So he found out the camera was broken after the fact. Who would know something like that."

"Okay, now you're officially grasping at straws. It's a broken camera in a random hallway that anyone could have access to. This isn't the CIA, literally anyone could have that knowledge."

The detective sighed again, this time more heavily. "So back to square one."

"You never really left," The tech said glumly. "I know how much this means to you man- the guy hurt you _and_ your brother- but you'll figure this out."

"The case should feel closed," Jay groaned. "We got our guy, he's dead, but it just-" The detective froze, suddenly silent."

"Jay? You still there?"

"What if we don't have our man?"

"I don't follow."

"What if David wasn't alone? A second man with the jammer would explain your strange readings. If he picked up David from Detroit- he might've simply used him. What if it wasn't him that had the motive? What if this is someone else's crusade entirely?"

"I'm listening."

"Mouse, the unit heading back now. Roman and Burgess are helping CSU clean up and doing a final sweep, but I want you to check something before we get there."

"Name it," the tech replied eagerly.

"Can you look at the nearest security cameras? If a second gunman did grab me you wouldn't be able to see him in the act-"

"But I might be able to catch him approaching the scene. I'll get right on it."

* * *

As Voight and the rest of Intelligence made their way up the stairs of the precinct, Mouse waved down his friend. Jay promptly approached the tech's desk.

"So there was no one particularity suspicious, but I did find a couple people headed in that general direction around the appropriate timeframe. I got a some faces, but a few people kept their faces away from the camera. I'm running facial rec on the ones I did get now."

Jay shook his head. "I doubt it'll work. If we're looking at a second gunman, this one's got to be as clever and cunning as David was unhinged and unpredictable. No way he'd get caught looking at a security camera." He sighed and shook his head. "But do it anyway. It's not like we have any other leads."

"We might," Lindsay added in approaching her partner's side. "If we're looking at a partner maybe that's where your disappearing bullet went."

"Into the subject?"

"Think about it. Jay says he hit David with his first shot, square in the forehead. That's where he was shot. Correct?" Everyone nodded. "What if he did hit him first try? He would've had no reason not to turn around and go check on Will. He killed the gunman. As far as he knew threat was neutralized."

"That's when you got grabbed," Dawson suggested. "Not by David, back from the dead, but by his partner. That would also mean, David didn't throw you into the glass door, the second man did."

"He would've been right in my range," Jay realized. "If I fired while falling, which I'm pretty sure I did, I could've hit this second man easily."

Ruzek threw a man into the air. "Problem with that," he blurted. "No blood."

"There's David's blood," Lindsay remembered.

"Okay?" Ruzek replied, clearly confused. "But isn't that...David's blood?"

"Not necessarily," Jay joined in, rubbing his neck slightly. "It's not exactly a stretch to say this partner staggered back when shot and bled really close to David's body."

"This man went to great extents to make it seem as though he didn't exist. He picked an arguably insane man from Detroit and why? To make himself as invisible as possible. He wouldn't have just run off while bleeding out a nice little trail for us to follow," Olinsky explained. "He would've found a way to stop the bleeding before rushing off."

"Yeah, but Lindsay showed up just moments after the shooting. He couldn't have cauterized it," Ruzek debated.

"He wouldn't have had to," Atwater said. "He only needed a short fix while he escaped. Rip up his shirt, press it to the wound and he could definitely get far enough to fix it up for good without leaving us a trail."

"Mouse," Jay instructed. "Check after the incident instead of before. This guy might be limping or holding a body part or-"

"A girl?" Lindsay finished with a small smirk.

Jay rolled his eyes at her grin. "My memories fuzzy, but not that fuzzy. I mistook this guy for David- he wasn't small. It was a guy. I'm sure."

"Alrighty then. Ruling out any girls," Mouse hummed.

"Look guys," Ruzek resumed. "I hate to play devil's advocate and all, but aren't you all missing something?" The unit looked at him. "Blood spray?" The rest of the team seemed confused so he went on, "the moment the bullet entered his body, before he even got the chance to stagger back, blood should've sprayed out. On the floor, on the glass, on Jay. Somewhere."

Jay frowned as he remembered something. "The jammer." Everyone turned to him. "Mouse, you said the jammer went out during the altercation yes?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with the bullet and the spray?"

"I think I shot it."

"You shot the jammer?" Lindsay parroted.

"It-" he furrowed his brow as he tried to remember more. "It looked like a radio. Not far from the kind this precinct issues out...I remember sparks. Just a couple. Ah." He groaned in frustration as he tried to remember more.

"Would that stop a bullet?"

Mouse shrugged. "I don't think so."

"He- He bled," Jay went on. "I hit him in the upper leg. By the waist. The jammer-radio-thing- it hung there. He staggered back." The detective grabbed his head, as a headache began to rage inside his skull. "There was blood on his leg."

"Jay," Erin said, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop the (clearly in pain) "Don't push yourself."

Jay let out a few heavy breaths. "I can't remember anything else," he sighed, looking around at his friends helplessly. "It's all so blurred."

"Trust me," Ruzek chirped. "You've helped plenty. You've nearly confirmed our theory. Now we know why there was no spray. The jammer would've blocked it, but if it was running down his leg, maybe he bled on the ground before he could stop it."

Atwater made a mildly disgusted face. "There's just something wrong to me about a guy bleeding in the blood puddle of a man who just got shot in the face."

"Any chance we could check the puddle for two types of blood? Isolate David's from his partner's?" Ruzek wondered.

"It's a stretch, but I'll call Burgess," Dawson offered before heading off to the break room as he dialled.

"In the meantime, I've got a few people leaving the scene about the time Lindsay arrived," Mouse announced. "No particularly clear faces, but Jay? You want a look?"

The detective nodded. "Show me."

* * *

"Anything yet?" Voight asked Jay, coming out of his office.

The detective shook his head with a sigh. "Some blurry faces. The backs of a couple heads. We only got two men that we could actually run through facial rec."

Dawson sat up straight, leaning back from his computer. "One is a cancer patient who then went to consult with a doctor. I called the doctor and she confirmed that he had no injuries and therefore, is not our guy."

"The other," Ruzek joined in. "Is a happily married father of two who was at the hospital because his daughter broke her leg. He was going to find a bathroom, got a little lost. I've got two nurses, a doctor and his wife all willing to contest that he was not injured upon returning."

"No one with a limp?" Voight wondered. "Any sign of injury?"

Mouse shrugged. "The was one figure whose gait was slightly off, but it could've been anything and while, at this point, he's our best bet, all he got was the back of a man with his hood up. I'm running a program now to determine his approximate height and weight, but that's all I'll be able to get you."

"We tried following him through the hospital, but we lost him after the fourth security camera," Jay continued. "The hospital's security camera system isn't exactly fool proof. A corner here, a wall there- It wouldn't take more than a basic knowledge of the system to evade the majority of the camera's on the way out."

"I'm still looking, but I wouldn't keep your hopes up. Odds are pretty slim that I'll find him," Mouse concluded with a grim frown.

"Well," Lindsay began as she entered the room. "I just got off the phone with Burgess. Her and Roman delivered multiple blood samples to the lab. They said they'll have the results for us tomorrow."

Voight checked the time on his phone. "I'm calling it," he announced. "It's late and with case, we could all use a break. Halstead especially," he added throwing a meaningful glare at the exhausted detective."

The unit all nodded in agreement, grabbing their coats and heading off as their offered their usual offers to meet the others at Molly's.

"You're not coming?" Jay asked Mouse, once everyone else had left.

The tech shook his head. "Too much to do," he sighed. "I need to find this guy."

"Mouse-"

"Jay," the tech interrupted. "This guy got the jump on you and that's a tall order. Even without that, we are looking at a man who got shot and still managed to leave essentially no trace that he was ever there in the first place. This man is dangerous, among the most dangerous we've ever seen, and we have nothing on him."

"And we will catch him, but Voight's right. Not tonight. We need rest. So grab your stuff and let's join everyone else at Molly's. Okay?"

Mouse nodded, sighing in defeat. "Okay. Okay. Let's go."

"Atta boy."

* * *

Molly's was full, but not overly so. The room was lit up with the chatter of those sitting at the bar and at the booths and tables. People were coming, people were going and (most prominently), people were drinking. With the exception of Voight (who wasn't overly found of 'hanging') and Olinsky (who had gone to spend time with his family), the whole unit was in attendance. Dawson, Ruzek, Atwater, Lindsay and Halstead were crowded around one table while Burgess sat a smaller one nearby, waiting for her partner to return with the next round. Mouse was (allegedly) on his way, but had yet to show.

The usual small talk was exchanged and after a short period, Ruzek excused himself to go grab everyone some shots which he had declared that they were "all in desperate need of." Just after he left, Lindsay rose to intercept Roman as he made his way back to Burgess.

"Detective," he greeted. "Can I help you?"

She hesitated for a moment. "How's Burgess?"

"Fine," he replied, clearly confused.

"I meant with the break up? It's been a while now and, not that I blame her, but she and Adam are still... well...awkward."

"That's putting it lightly," he said with a slight laugh. "She really fell hard for him. It's too bad he didn't fall as hard for her."

The female detective shrugged. "I don't know if that's strictly true."

"Maybe not," Roman said with a shrug of his own. "But either way, Adam Ruzek never intended to tie the knot- with her, or anyone for that matter." Lindsay nodded in agreement, whispering a small _thanks_ before returning to her unit's table.

"Those two are killing me," Atwater groaned as Lindsay reclaimed her spot beside her boyfriend.

Lindsay left out a small huff of agreement with a raise of her eyebrows. _You're telling me._ Dawson just shook his head at the younger detectives.

"I've got shots!" Ruzek announced triumphantly upon his return. Halstead, however, had his attention drawn by the late entrance of Mouse.

"Actually, hold that thought," Jay instructed as he rose from the table to go to his friend who was now sitting at the bar. Ruzek simply shrugged, immediately throwing back Jay's shot himself as the detective left. "You look tired," he declared as he sat down at the bar next to his old army buddy.

"Worried, more accurately," he corrected as Herman poured him a glass.

"Mouse we will find this guy. You know that." The detective paused, registering the severity of the concern on his face. "Mouse," He said, softly. "What's really bothering you?"

He sighed deeply, forming the answer in his head. "This guy, we have next to nothing saying that he actually exists. He's smart, he's dangerous and- and he's bloodthirsty." Erin frowned at the last word, prompting an explanation. "He's done everything to make sure we didn't know he was there. So why attack you? What did that earn him? What was the point? This guy meticulously avoided anything that could lead us to him, but he had to try to strangle a police officer?"

Jay shrugged. "Maybe he was trying to help David."

"After he died? No, David had no one. He cared about no one and, in return, no one cared about him."

He shook her head. "Look, Mouse, you're tired. All of us are. We're spinning our wheels and what we need- what will really help us- is to take a step back, get some sleep. We can worry about this all in the morning when we're on top of our game again."

Mouse nodded. "I wanted to double check something. That's why I was so late to show up."

"Okay."

"The first time I pinged the jammer's location, it was in a lab for experimental vaccines."

"You think David was a distraction in order to cover up a theft?"

Mouse nodded. "I called the hospital, asked them to check if there were any items missing. They said they'd get back to me with their findings by the morning."

"That's good though. Right?"

"We're talking experimental vaccines Jay. Why would anyone want a vaccine?" Mouse asked, causing Jay to shake his head. "If they had the virus it cured. Jay-"

Jay took a deep breath. "I tell you what. Bright and early tomorrow, you and I will go check the lab to see what they were studying. Will once told me that a lot of the experimental labs on that side of the hospital are in between projects right now. Let's not get crazy until we know for sure."

Mouse nodded. "I'll try not to, but no promises."

At this point, Erin made her way over to the two. "You planning on coming back?" She asked with a small smirk. "We were beginning to think you've abandoned us."

"We? Or you?" Jay teased.

"You wish."

Jay laughed. "Come on Mouse. Let's go take our minds off it for a night."

* * *

"Do you have it?" A figure asked. The man nodded, handing the figure a small box, which they quickly, but carefully opened. "This isn't what we asked for."

The man smirked. "No, but I took care of it."

"You clearly did not. The instructions were clear and you failed. Give me one reason not to kill you right here, right now."

The man smiled mischievously. "Why do you think I asked you to meet me here?"

"I really don' t care for riddles."

The man nodded. "It's no riddle," he said, pointing within the window of the bar. "That one is the key. Watch that one and you will see I did not fail. I helped."

"I allowed you to join this mission as a courtesy, knowing full well of your emotional ties. But I warned you that if you strayed even slightly from the cause I would put you down like the wild mutt you are."

The man shook his head. "I didn't stray. I helped. You wanted proof. You will have it." He pointed once more within the confines of the lively bar. "There is your proof. In a weeks time, it will either manifest itself or it won't. Either way, you will know if we are on the right track."

"Let us hope...Because you endangered an Intelligence detective and if the reward is not sufficient there will be a price to pay." The figure smiled sinisterly. "And you will be the one to pay it."

"Trust me. This will work out."

A terrifying grin spread across the figures face. "We are done here. I will be in touch."

* * *

 _Sorry_ _Sorry_ _Sorry_ _Sorry_ _Sorry_ _for the late update. School's crazy and I caught a pretty nasty bug...so if this chapter sucks I'm blaming it on the fact that I feel like crap. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it (let me know if you did or didn't). I hope you liked the more casual scene I tried to throw in (*tried). See you next Sunday...ideally._

 **Next Chapter: Chapter Five**

 **I'm Not Gonna Leave You Here**


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